greymenacefandomcom-20200214-history
The Propitius Deaconess Congregation
Kongregasi Diakones Propitius is a Mennonite Protestant congregation of medical deaconesses in the small village of Paterosari. It was founded by Madea de Haven in 1910 and handles the Propitius Medical Center, Sanatorium Sare Sehat Sinyo Schrijnemakers, and Panti Wreda Dara Merdeka. History Name The word propitius is a Latin term, meaning 'well-disposed' or 'kind'. Madea learned of this term during her work with the Catholic nuns in the Netherlands. Development The congregation was originally founded by Madea de Haven, daughter of Kobus de Haven who founded the Paterosari Christian Church in 1873, also the year Madea was born. Madea studied nursing in the Netherlands and became a graduate nurse in 1893, became a registered nurse in 1903, and was ordained a deaconess by the church in 1905. As so, under the wing of The Paterosari League of Women, the Propitius Clinic was built to serve the Paterosari community. She served with her two youngest sisters, Rebeka de Haven and Judith de Haven, as the first deaconesses of Paterosari. They were called 'Suster' (sister) under the Dutch language and they are still called so despite being deaconesses (they are often confused as Catholic nuns). Nursing in the Dutch East Indies was difficult at that time, because the European women were reluctant to participate. Sara de Haven, Madea's younger sister and their parents' second child, did not even want to join her elder and younger sisters because she wanted to marry. Eventually, the sisters had to turn to the local women--few of them joined because of how little they trusted Western medicine. By the 1940s, the numbers were significantly greater, as help was needed around wartime. Paterosari was a place for recuperation at that time and so many women (and men) participated. After the 1950s, the number of deaconesses reduced as professional nursing became more needed and popular. Eventually, in the 1970s, women were recruited into the congregation by being sent to professional nursing schools that work with the congregation in various cities and moving back once their studies have finished. Though the numbers were steadily improving, it was still a rather small number. In 1995, a vocational nursing academy was built to train local women into becoming deaconesses. Services and Facilities Services In addition to providing medical care in the Propitius Medical Center, the deaconesses also partly operate Sanatorium Sare Sehat Sinyo Schrijnemakers (since it is part of the Propitius Clinic) and the Panti Wreda Dara Merdeka nursing home. Outside of these institutions, they may serve as caregivers of the ailing in their homes as long as a payment is made to the clinic. They may also operate outside of Paterosari as extensions of the clinic. Facilities Though they operate in Central Paterosari, Cibubut, and Panempritan, the ones that have taken vows of poverty and chastity live near the church in Taman Gagak, Caraka Badiran in a complex of cottages, by The Propitius Deaconess House, the headquarters of the deaconess congregation. Personnel The deaconesses strongly resemble Catholic nuns in that some may take vows of poverty and chastity, they live together in congregations headed by head deaconesses (called 'mothers'), and they wear modest uniforms. Mothers * Madea de Haven (1910-1968) Sisters * Rebeka de Haven (1910-???) * Judith de Haven (1910-???) * Category:Institutions Category:Groups